Strategies for Dignity–– Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany –– 19 February 2017

As we conclude our readings from the Sermon on the Mount at the end of the Sundays after Epiphany, we hear God ask us to be holy and perfect, and distinct and whole in our love for neighbors and enemies alike.  And we are reminded that this kind of holiness will look like foolishness in the eyes of the world.

Matthew 5: 38-48

Jesus continues his teaching with the formula “you have heard it said/but I say to you” which we encountered last week.  As he asks us to be salt and light, visible signs of righteousness to the world, he lays down the challenge that such righteousness will be embodied in refusing the pattern of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”  The examples of this teaching in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy are very specific, and it is significant that Jesus assumes his followers will take this mandate out of context and apply it to every encounter and slight. 

Instead, Jesus asks his followers to turn the left cheek in addition to the right if someone strikes; when sued for a coat to give a cloak as well; and to go two miles if conscripted to go one.  Walter Wink wrote quite convincingly that these actions were not simply submission, but strategies by which the one struck, sued, or conscripted could assert dignity while appealing to the other’s humanity, which Wink called the “Third Way” of Jesus [Walter Wink, The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millennium (New York: Doubleday, 1998) 101-111]. 

The second admonition, to love not just your neighbor but also your enemy, presses us further down the path of holiness and righteousness, for as Jesus asks, if we love our neighbors only, how is our holiness distinct? 

Leviticus 19: 1-2, 9-18

God commands the people of Israel to be holy as “I the Eternal your God am holy.”  The Hebrew adjective qadosh can mean sacred, separate, distinct, and set apart. Israel will therefore be distinct via a holiness constituted by a righteousness greater than that of others. 

This righteousness is expressed in care and concern for the poor and the alien, who should be able to glean the edges of the fields and pick the fallen grapes of the vineyards.  It is expressed in care for laborers who should not be defrauded their wages, and for the poor who are accused, that they not be judged unjustly. 

Our holiness as righteousness is expressed as love for our neighbors and for the poor and alien in our midst.

I Corinthians 3: 10-11

The Apostle Paul preaches that we all must “choose with care how to build” on the foundation that is Jesus Christ (vss. 10-11). As we build on the foundation that is Jesus Christ, our wisdom will look like foolishness in the eyes of the world (vss. 18-19).  Even if the foundation and what we build upon it looks foolish, we may rest assured that the path to follow is God’s wisdom, not the wisdom of the world. 

Stephanie Perdew VanSlyke, Ph.D., is President of The Liturgical Conference, Senior Pastor of First Congregational Church UCC, Wilmette, Illinois, and affiliate faculty in Christian History at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois.

“You are a King?” – 22 Nov 2015 – Reign of Christ

What does the Reign of Christ look like? What is God’s Dominion? How does Jesus’ voice give truth that makes it possible for us to “belong to the truth”?

Given these questions, how could we not find sympathy for Pilate as he tries to come to grips with the identity of this Jesus who is a threat to many and a healer to others? Jesus himself refers to his “kingdom,” his basileia which can be rendered as “royal power” and “rule,” among other English words. In effect, Jesus tells Pilate that his power comes from outside this world. These claims are difficult to wrangle.

And yet, we end the liturgical year on this Sunday with Christ’s eternal power as the central focus. This is the crowning Sunday, but it is also not a day of sheer triumph. Jesus, our ultimate power, is dragged before the political power of a corrupt government. Jesus, thus, knows that the dominion to which his body will be entrusted is one that will continue to confront enemies of God’s inclusive love.

John 18:33-37

As the Christian assembly gathers to celebrate Christ's kingship, the reading from John 18 invites reflection on the surprising character of Christ's kingly rule. . . Pilate wants to determine whether Jesus represents a threat to Roman imperial rule. He inquires whether Jesus is “king of the Jews,” a rival to Caesar's authority. In the conversation that follows, Jesus reveals two important qualities of his dominion.

First, Jesus indicates that his kingdom is not from this world. . . The dualism between the kingdoms of this world and Jesus' kingdom is well expressed by Walter Wink in Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992). Jesus' kingdom does not belong to the world system of domination. For that reason, Jesus has not prepared his followers to use violence against any enemies. His followers do not fight, as all other partisans do, because his kingdom is not from here.

Secondly, Jesus defines what it means to be a king in terms of testifying to the truth. The testimony Jesus gives is his life, both lived and offered up on the cross. Because Jesus is the truth (14:6), this truth cannot be understood or possessed as a proposition or article of belief. Instead, one belongs to the truth by entering into a relationship with God in Christ.– Aaron Couch

Again, in Daniel, the reality of the powers of domination are in the forefront. But here, the Ancient One is the judge.

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14

The apocalyptic imagery of the vision in Daniel 7, both memorable and grotesque, is interpreted by a heavenly attendant in 7:15–27. A succession of four monstrous animals in 7:2–8 symbolizes a succession of four empires. The fourth, identified as a terrifying beast, represents the Seleucid Empire. It sprouts a little horn, which is Antiochus Epiphanes. The reader who is acquainted with Antiochus' hubris and his attempt to terrorize the Jewish people into submission will appreciate how the visionary writer characterizes this ruler as an arrogant little horn.

The lectionary focuses on Daniel's vision of the divine court of justice passing judgment on the beast and giving kingship to “one like a human being.” The use of inclusive language may, in this case, prevent the reader from immediately recognizing the phrase that Jesus employs as a title: “Son of Man.” Within the vision, this “one like a human being” receives eternal dominion from God. Although this figure appears to be an individual, the interpretive section at the end of the chapter makes it clear that the “one like a human being” is a corporate image representing the people of Israel. – Aaron Couch

These are cautionary words about reading too much Christological imagery into Old Testament writings, but it is natural that the Christ-centered mind will not miss the connection between “one like a human being” receiving “dominion and glory and kingship.”

When Pastor Couch points out the corporate image of this one-like-a-human who receives kingship, we might remember that the body of Christ is a corporate image now, including all the saints, living and dead.

Revelation 1:4b-8

Revelation . . .  [is] a letter from John the visionary (different from John the apostle) to seven church communities in the Roman province of Asia. . .

Jesus, risen from the dead, is acclaimed as “ruler of the kings on earth.” By his death he has demonstrated his deep love for us and has accomplished God's saving work to set us free from our sins. John pictures the community of God's people in two ways: we are the domain where Jesus' rule is visible and we are priests who serve Jesus' God and Father. – Aaron Couch

Inviting the assembly to ponder the contrasting dominions of power­­––the secular world vs. the Alpha and Omega––immediately raises the specter of how any of us can manage to navigate the choices we face without the guidance of Christ Jesus. We may not be ruled today by Roman soldiers, but the same temptation exists to dismiss the ultimate power of God’s saving wisdom in favor of an easier and more comfortable path through life.

This is a day for strong singing that fills the sanctuary with a sense of belonging to something far greater than any individual alone or the whole people of God together. Let there be strong Confession and Forgiveness and an enlightening sermon, praising the One who became human for us.

Aaron Couch is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 39, no. 12 (2006): 49-58.